Double incision or keyhole? How we decide
Why the honest answer is sometimes the one you hoped to avoid
Three things decide it: how much tissue there is, how elastic your skin is, and how you personally weigh scar visibility against contour.
The elasticity test
Pinch the skin and let go. If it snaps back, a smaller incision may work. If it stays tented, it will not retract after surgery either, and a keyhole approach will leave you with a loose, rippled chest.
Why we sometimes say no
Patients often arrive asking for keyhole because it has the smallest scar. If your anatomy will not give a good result that way, performing it anyway means two operations instead of one. We will show you photographs of both outcomes and let you decide with the real information.